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WWE Brand Split - Mock Draft 2016
This is a page documenting James' mock draft for the impending WWE brand split in 2016, in which SmackDown will go live for the first time ever. Management NOTE: I will not be drafting announcers, as drafting the large broadcast team would be much too difficult. The only difference is that Corey Graves gets called up to SmackDown and Byron Saxton becomes exclusive to Raw. Raw COOs: Stephanie McMahon will end up being one of Raw's COOs, as she is a superior talker, and has more experience on live programming. Also helping keep things in the Authority's favor is her husband, the returning Triple H. SmackDown COO: SmackDown's COO will end up being Stephanie's brother, Shane McMahon. This is because SmackDown will likely be the wrestling-oriented show, and Shane is the wrestling-oriented McMahon. Draft The first 20 draft picks for each brand are televised on the first ever live SmackDown. The rest of the draft picks will happen in a Supplemental Draft on WWE.com. NOTE: As they are considered to be "special attractions", I will not be drafting any part-timers in this draft. That includes Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, and their ilk. Raw Pick #1 - WWE Champion Dean Ambrose Raw is the more established show between the two, and the WWE Championship is the more established championship. Dean also has too much charisma to not be featured on the flagship show. NOTE: The reason I referred to Dean as the WWE Champion is that I assume WWE is reviving the World Heavyweight Championship and giving it to SmackDown. I will talk more about that later. SmackDown Pick #1 - John Cena John Cena has not been a member of the SmackDown roster in over a decade. A return to their roster would certainly indicate a refreshing change of pace for the franchise player. Raw Pick #2 - Roman Reigns Roman Reigns is in the center of a whirlwind of controversy right now after his Wellness Policy violation, which caused him to be punished with a 30-day suspension. However, Reigns is still undeniably being pushed as the chosen one of the company, so he gets an early draw tonight. SmackDown Pick #2 - Kevin Owens A shocker occurs tonight, as Kevin Owens is drafted in the first 3 rounds, alongside the top stars of WWE. However, now is a great time to pull the trigger on his main event push. He is currently doing the best heel work of his career, and fans are clamoring for him to get a chance at the top. Raw Pick #3 - Seth Rollins Seth Rollins just edges out KO as the best heel in WWE right now, but it's less 1/2 and more 1A/1B. That being said, The Architect is already a key player in the main event, so he gets drafted here to keep up his feud with his former Shield brethren. SmackDown Pick #3 - AJ Styles AJ Styles is currently in a huge top feud with John Cena, so he is drafted here to continue the rivalry. I doubted a Styles heel turn at first, but he has been doing excellent chickenpoo heel work so far. Raw Pick #4 - Chris Jericho Chris Jericho is doing some of his best heel work in a long time nowadays. I know Jericho has been on part-time runs, and I already said I wouldn't be drafting part-time stars, but at this point, he seems to be working full-time, so he can be drafted to Raw for some veteran presence. SmackDown Pick #4 - Randy Orton If WWE wants people to take SmackDown seriously, then they need a lot of well-known names to build the brand. Randy Orton has been the #2 guy to Cena for around a decade, and could propel SmackDown forwards. Raw Picks #5, #6, and #7 - WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods respectively) Raw manages to pick up your reigning and defending W-W-E-World-Tag-Team-Champions, The New Day! They are far too entertaining and flashy to not be drafted to the flagship show, with a plethora of catchphrases not seen since The Rock (who will not be drafted tonight). SmackDown Picks #5, #6, and #7 - The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, and Erick Rowan respectively) SmackDown drafting The Wyatt Family is the perfect way to compliment Raw's drafting of The New Day, their main rivals right now. The SmackDown brand is also where new Superstars are built up to the main event. Bray Wyatt has never quite gotten a chance to shine in the main event picture, and surprisingly, his family has never had a tag title reign, but now is the Wyatts' time. Raw Pick #8 - WWE Women's Champion Charlotte Women's Champion Charlotte is always a controversial figure in WWE's Women's division. She is often shown having people help her cheat her way to victory to retain her title, her most recent ally being Dana Brooke. She is engaged in a feud right now with probably WWE's most popular female Superstar, Sasha Banks. SmackDown Pick #8 - Becky Lynch WWE's second most popular female star, Becky Lynch, gets drafted to the blue brand. This is to foster her feud with Natalya, and make it a bigger deal than it is so far. However, that may have just given away our next draft pick. Raw Pick #9 - Sasha Banks Sasha Banks gets drafted to Raw to feud with her nemesis, Charlotte. Many people are clamoring for her to get a run with the Women's title, and she may just get that chance now. SmackDown Pick #9 - Dana Brooke Nope! I got you there, didn't I? Though Dana Brooke is currently on the main roster, she definitely needs some more work. I would recommend that she stays in developmental until Emma comes back, and then reprise her job as her bodyguard. Meanwhile, on the main roster, we'll finally see how Charlotte fares without an ally rigging her matches. Raw Pick #10 - Bayley Raw's 10th draft pick (and therefore halfway mark) needed to be a big deal, and they did not fail on that. I believe the time is right to finally call up Bayley to the main roster so she can strut her stuff with the rest of the Four Horsewomen. Let's hope WWE treats her right. SmackDown Pick #10 - Natalya Now SmackDown goes for the obvious choice and picks up Natalya. She has a lot of talent to foster SmackDown's new Divas. For now, though, she is engaged in a feud with Becky Lynch. Raw Picks #11 and #12 - Enzo Amore & Big Cass (respectively) Enzo Amore is one of the best talkers in WWE right now, but is not that good in the ring. Big Cass is less gifted on the microphone, but talented more than most men his size in the ring. These two have complementing strengths and weaknesses that make them a great team. Combined, these two have far too much charisma not to end up on Raw. SmackDown Pick #11 - Cesaro SmackDown continues to take away WWE's upper-midcard stars as Cesaro lends some serious technical ability to the blue brand. He will also be one of the newer talents to blossom into a star on the SmackDown brand. SmackDown Pick #12 - Alberto Del Rio Alberto Del Rio, on the other hand, does have a fair amount of experience in WWE's main event. He will continue his rivalry with Cesaro here on SmackDown, and lend experience to some newer faces. Raw Pick #13 - Sheamus Sheamus is also a veteran in the main event scene of WWE. He has a good brawling style, and will surely elevate some newer stars, likely including Apollo Crews, providing they are not drafted apart. Raw Pick #14 - Apollo Crews It looks like Crews and Sheamus may continue their rivalry on the Raw brand. Crews has a lot of potential, with a rare mix of brute strength and agility. This leads many to believe that if he develops his character, he will become a star in WWE one day. SmackDown Picks #13 and #14 - The Club (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson respectively) Despite being saddled with a horribly generic name, Gallows and Anderson are doing good work as AJ Styles' classic heel cronies. Some people may think this isn't a good thing, I think they've been making it work. Raw Pick #15 - WWE United States Champion Rusev (w/Lana) Rusev is currently going on a tear as a monster heel champion. He is feuding in a patriotic storyline with Titus O'Neil, and this feud has quickly become personal. Will it continue onwards? SmackDown Pick #15 - WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) SmackDown responds to Raw taking a midcard title by taking the other one. They also have MizTV to counter Raw's Highlight Reel. Miz is one of the most underrated heels in WWE right now, and has done a great job as a classic heel champion. Raw Pick #16 - Titus O'Neil It looks like Rusev and Titus O'Neil's feud will continue heading into SummerSlam as they are both drafted to Raw. Titus O'Neil has been doing great patriot hero work, but will he get the United States Championship so it all pays off? SmackDown Pick #16 - Sami Zayn Sami Zayn is drafted to the same brand as his best friend turned worst enemy, Kevin Owens. However, for now, they will be kept apart. Sami Zayn looks to gain the Intercontinental title, as he is drafted right after champion The Miz. Raw Picks #17 and #18 - The Usos (Jimmy & Jey respectively) Many a fan tires of the twin brothers and cousins of Roman Reigns, as at times, they were considered to be the Roman Reigns of the tag team division. However, it will be interesting to see how they interact with their cousin once he returns. SmackDown Pick #17 - Baron Corbin Baron Corbin debuted by winning the annual Andre the Giant WrestleMania Battle Royal. Surprisingly, he has been used for little since then. However, he has potential as a big star, so he should be elevated. SmackDown Pick #18 - Kalisto This former United States Champion is drafted to SmackDown at this position to get Corbin away from Dolph Ziggler, who he has feuded with for too long. However, a feud between Kalisto and Corbin could work as Corbin seeks to destroy more small guys. This works, as they have had a match once before on a Raw. Raw Pick #19 - Darren Young (w/Bob Backlund) Darren Young may seem like a surprising choice to draft to Raw on live TV instead of the Supplemental draft, but he does have some po-- I couldn't find any other people who had gotten as much screen time without it seeming weird. Still, it's appropriate that he gets a late draw in the Draft, considering his highly hyped character. SmackDown Pick #19 - Dolph Ziggler Dolph Ziggler is a fairly valuable asset on WWE programming. He's a veteran who is good at putting people over, but I have another purpose for him. You'll just have to wait and see. Raw Pick #20 - Kane Kane has been getting a lot of heat in the last couple years for being an older talent that's taking TV time from younger talent. However, WWE seems reluctant to let go of him, likely because of his loyalty to WWE for all these years. So, he gets a spot in the draft. SmackDown Pick #20 - Finn Bálor SmackDown closes out the draft with a very shocking draft pick, Finn Bálor. He is a former NXT Champion, and has been in the developmental system for almost 2 years now. Now, many people think that the draft is the right time to call him up, as he has just recently lost the NXT Championship. This concludes the live portion of our draft. Now, we move on to the supplemental draft! Supplemental Draft NOTE: A lot of people say that The Ascension are close to getting released after Konnor violated the Wellness Policy. Since this isn't confirmed, I'll draft them for chips and giggles. I'm not drafting Ryback, though, as he is all but confirmed to be leaving WWE. Raw Picks The Ascension - Jobber tag team Big Show - Longtime veteran of the WWE Brie Bella - Female star on hiatus The Dudleys - Veteran team with lots of experience Jack Swagger - Patriotic jobber Mark Henry - Tenured veteran Naomi - Athletic female star Nikki Bella - Major female star The Shining Stars - Heatless tag team Summer Rae - Lower-card female star Tamina - Tough female star SmackDown Picks Alicia Fox - Underrated female star Breezango - Rivals of Golden Truth Emma - Rising female star The Golden Truth - Rivals of Breezango Luke Harper - Injured Wyatt Naomi - Athletic female star Neville - High-flying cruiserweight Paige - Young female star Sin Cara - Friend of Kalisto The Social Outcasts - Jobber stable Tyson Kidd - Severely injured cruiserweight The Vaudevillains - Old-school tag team Zack Ryder - Lower-card star Battleground Card/Results Confirmed Matches 1. WWE Championship: Dean Ambrose © vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins The Hype This is a match surrounded by controversy. At Money in the Bank in June, Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns to win the WWE Championship. He was then immediately cashed in on successfully by Dean Ambrose, who had won the Money in the Bank briefcase earlier in the night. Soon after, it was revealed that Roman Reigns had failed the Wellness Policy test prior to the event, which has been theorized as the reason that he was booked to lose the championship. Seth Rollins has brought up his suspension in segments with Dean Ambrose. Despite Rollins being the heel and Roman being a tweener babyface in the vein of Sto-- no, I refuse to compare him to Steve Austin. Anyways, Rollins is well-liked by a good amount of fans and Reigns is despised by them, despite the company's efforts to push him as the new big babyface, which have fallen apart due to his suspension. The Endgame Dean Ambrose has just won the WWE Championship. Rollins is on a great run right now as a heel, despite being loved by the fans. Reigns, on the other hand, is booed despite being pushed as the big face. However, Reigns has been suspended, keeping him out of action for the duration of the build-up to the match. Ultimately, WWE needs to show that they take the Wellness Policy seriously and have Roman eat the pin to Dean, who keeps the title.